EDITORIAL: Education, business mesh with STEM training

This is how it's supposed to work: Educational and business interests coming together to cultivate the workforce of tomorrow.

Often, it happens best in a real-world setting, rather than a traditional classroom, and that's the premise for the externship program that is ongoing in the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System's Science Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) training initiative.

These externships are equipping teachers and their young students with a sense of how what they learn in the classroom is applied in the workplace.

CMCSS continues to research local businesses to identify those that have some practical compatibility with the STEM program.

CMCSS STEM Coordinator Dale Rudolph said it well in a recent orientation before some local business leaders:

"We're looking for your voice. We want our students to graduate and not just be competitive in the Clarksville workforce, but to also be competitive globally."

That involves making teachers more aware of what their students will see and experience in adulthood as they go job hunting.

The summer externships are week-long sessions where CMCSS math and science teachers work with some local businesses in their respective work settings to better understand the application of the subjects they teach to the future workforce. These externships are funded by a U.S. Department of Defense Educational Grant.

Teachers work alongside the employees of STEM business partners and identify workplace "challenges" that translate into teachable lessons for CMCSS students.

Often, CMCSS says, teachers only know the world of the classroom and haven't had access to businesses which apply math and science concepts in their daily activities.

The purpose of the teacher externship is to bring the complex issues of STEM into real-life, work-based situations for teachers to improve classroom instruction.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

EDITORIAL: Education, business mesh with STEM training

This is how it's supposed to work: Educational and business interests coming together to cultivate the workforce of tomorrow.